Hello, I’m Martin

A sunnypreneur in mali

Hello, I’m Martin

A sunnypreneur in mali

Martin Dembélé is a 27-year-old electrician who takes advantage of existing social structures in rural Mali, facilitating access to lighting with high-quality solar kits.

Energy

Mali

Martin Dembélé is a 27-year-old electrician who takes advantage of existing social structures in rural Mali, facilitating access to lighting with high-quality solar kits.

Energy

Mali

Get to know Martin and Yéleen Djiguima

Why is the project relevant

More than half of the population lives in rural areas. However, 98 % of these have no access to electricity. (World Bank)

How it works

Yeleen Djiguima, Martin’s business, is an innovative solar kit distribution and leasing model. It allows him to reach people in remote areas thanks to associations and local networks. These groups of people are created to serve their own best interests. Some examples are: farmer cooperatives, women’s networks, youth associations, etc

Access to energy means: light and phone charging

The challenge of providing access to energy lies in the implementation of innovative distribution models. (World Bank) The distribution of high-quality solar technology faces two problems that significantly impact their final price:

– Raising people’s awareness in the fight against unsustainable technologies

Affordability

The high-quality solar kits are made affordable through payments in instalments: households pay a small amount of money (about equivalent to weekly expenditures for kerosene for lighting and to charge their phones) to the guarantor of their association during their weekly meeting.

For example: after 1 year of paying all required instalments, a Lagazel Kalo 3000 solar kit (as pictured) is amortized and is theirs to keep.

Business Model based on associative networks

The people who act as guarantors for their association or network receive a commission for every instalment paid by members benefiting from Yéleen Djiguima’s service.

This ensures the security of Martin’s business model as the guarantors have a strong influence within their association and as the gradual receipt of commissions provides the guarantors with the incentive to achieve full repayment within the group.

Sunnery

The innovation of Martin’s approach is based on 3 facts:

The work with cooperatives allows him to reach a large number of people in remote areas